| Diplomacy and Terrorism In 2006 and 2007, the Academy sponsored several panel discussions and events in Chicago and Los Angeles to discuss the role of diplomacy in the war on terror. The Academy hosted a panel discussion with the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles in early October 2007. Below is an article by Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin who attended the event on behalf of the Academy. In a special session chaired by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Chas Freeman debunked any notion that diplomats dodged tough realities. Freeman provided well-reasoned and clear evidence that our lack of strategy and “diplomacy-free foreign policy that relies almost exclusively on military means –is demonstrably not working…” He held the distinguished audience spellbound with his presentation faulting the rush to invade Iraq, the mishandling of our initial successes in Afghanistan and the abandonment of our role as Middle East peacemaker by backing “Israel’s efforts to pacify its captive and increasingly ghettoized Arab populations.” Closer to home, Freeman argued that administration security policies in the wake of 9/11 have undermined our moral leadership. Once respected as the world’s conscience and protector of legal norms, the United States now “condemn(s) terrorism as criminal but reserves the right to respond to it with actions we ourselves previously considered criminal.” Ambassador Freeman was applauded for his biting analysis of the challenge we face and his insightful recommendations for how to address them. “We need a strategy’, he said that “unites us with the enemies of our enemies and regains the collaboration and support of now-alienated allies and friends. Such a strategy must make a serious effort to understand our enemies rather than caricature and malign them. We must alter our policies toward Iraq and Afghanistan, but also reexamine our “reflexive support of Israel’s policies.” Freeman made a plea for a debate on US policy toward Israel uninhibited by “self-appointed thought police”. He said our equation of terrorism with Islam has “impeded efforts of mainstream Muslims to oppose our common enemies.” We need to work with allies like Saudi Arabia to intercept and rehabilitate those tempted by terrorism. This requires understanding and empathy-- two hallmarks of diplomacy. Finally, we must pursue and kill criminals who attacked us. In a separate event on the campus of the University
of Southern California, Ambassadors Quainton, Boyatt and Chamberlin, joined
by Diplomat in Residence, Ann Chermak participated in a panel discussion.
Drawing on his experiences both as head of Diplomatic Security and the
Office of International Terrorism Ambassador Quainton provided a historical
yet richly analytical overview of American diplomatic history on terrorism
over the past 30 years. The audience of the Los Angeles diplomatic corps,
students and professors were in rapt attention as Ambassador Boyatt related
the story of his personal heroism during a 1969 airplane hijacking. Ambassador
Chamberlin presaged a few of Ambassador Freeman’s themes with a
call to understand the motivations of al Qaeda terrorists if we are to
be effective in leading a global effort to counter them. Chermak reviewed
public diplomacy efforts to win support of Muslim populations in Europe.
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